RWBY: Revenant

By Endbeats

Chapter 35: After – After the Battle

Josephine and Sagino sat in the white hospital room beside a completely conscious Kang. He had some cuts and broken bones, but he looked livelier than ever. He was even doing work on his tablet. It had been less than a day since they picked him up off the side of the lake. In less than a day, he had gone from a life-threatening condition to the current one now. Seeing this recovery speed, Josephine was fairly confident Kang wasn't human.

If he wasn't human, though, then what was the thing that beat him?

"Any information on the searches, Sagino?" Kang asked.

"Nope. We know Liu is heading towards the Capital for some reason, but we haven't found him at all on the paths from here to there."

"Expand your searches. Maybe he's hiding in a town."

Sagino nodded. Yet an awkward silence took the three without pause, excluding the taps on Kang's tablet. It was apparent to them: they had failed, but no one had to courage to bring it up. They didn't want to face the truth of this failure, or the fact that Kang, one of the strongest men in Mistral, lost to his son. It took more than a moment before Sagino, the most boisterous of the three, quietly spoke. "Si- Look, Kang, what happened down there?"

The general put down his tablet and sighed. "I saw more than just Liu down there."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw… Soul," Kang recalled.

"Soul? Isn't that the name Liu gives himself?" Josephine brought up.

"Yes, but Soul… is more than just a name. Soul is an identity of vengeance that Liu gave form. It's… evil. That's all I know."

"Evil? Liu?" Sagino chuckled nervously, which Kang responded with a serious glare.

"There was a moment when I was sure I knocked out Liu. His body laid on the ground, seemingly unconscious. Then, he got back up with this… vicious smile that gave me shivers down my spine. His eyes, too. They were hazy, yet concentrated on one thing: me. Since I was standing in the way between him and revenge, I was just another target to take down. And his... speech. He kept repeating words like a maniac. I can tell you right now, that was not Liu.

"So what? You're going to excuse Liu for what he's done? Stealing, killing, impersonation? Are you gonna say it wasn't Liu? That it was Soul?" Josephine felt anger grow in her being. Why did this boy get special attention after all these things he's done? She hated it.

She had to ask herself, though, why she cared as much as she did.

Despite her anger, though, Kang remained calm and responded. "I didn't mean any of that. Liu is indeed the one making the choices, but… I know that what I saw was not Liu. What I saw there was something else entirely, as if he was possessed. It was… It wasn't him, Josephine. That's all I know."

Josephine squeezed her fists, but nodded. "Then if you'll excuse me."

Unable to contain her anger at her general's ignorance, she left the room.


"That's quite a replacement you chose for Cam, Kang," Sagino joked as the girl left the room.

"She acts like she doesn't care, yet she has a stronger sense of justice than you or I. Sheesh, I wonder if I should be harder on Liu."

"You sure?"

Kang shook his head. "I don't know, honestly. Liu's not fully in there, Sagino. I'm telling you, there's something inside the boy. Something that isn't him. Something that's pushing him towards this path. Because of that, I can't give up on him."

Sagino nodded "You mean we can't give up on him. He's practically my nephew, after all."

Kang grinned. "Thanks, man. And Josephine… well, I think she'll understand soon enough."

"I dunno. The girl's as stubborn as you when you were her age!"

The two laughed, but it did nothing to ease the tension. The tension that came out of an uncertainty in their search. Of an uncertainty in Liu. Of an uncertainty in his revenge. Of an uncertainly in his identity.

And of a fear in Soul.


(Author's Note: Hello! Thanks for reading RWBY: Revenant, and sorry for this short after chapter! I just felt I should add in an after chapter to make sure the number of before and after chapters aren't too far off from one another. So, yeah... I don't have anything to say, ha. Thanks for reading, see you, and God bless!)